Apparatus for determining the inclination of well holes



C. E. LEACH Uct 16, T1934.

APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING THE INCLINATION OF WELL HOLES Original Filed April 29, 1929 iii) atented ill 1, 1934 appliances were nn'rnntnnvnio rm nvcrmnrron on were. aroma Claude E. Leach, lLos Gehri designer, hy mesne acedmnients, to Alexander dndensoni Application April 2515, 1929, Serial No. 859M911 Eenewed Fehruory t,

c wit ttilaili My invention pertains to apparatus for deterg the inclination of well holes.

My apparatus is utilized in drilling deep well holes such as for oil.- well drilling,- in which it is desired to ascertain if the hole is being bored from the true vertical and the amount of the inclination.

In one of the forms of the procedure it has been the practice to lower a glass container or the like having hydrofluoric acid therein, to-a preselected level at which inclination is to he de= terrnined and after allowing the container to rest at that level for a short time to remove it to the surface. The hydrofluoric acid reacts on the glass giving an etching and the inclination of the surface of this etching is used to determine the in clination oi the bore of the well as the surface of the acid assumes a horizontal position. In the prior practice the container having the hy= drofluoric acid has been lowered by means of drill pipe, that is when the drill pipe is lowemd or' by a cable or a hailer, but this is a slow procedure and the acid reacts on the glass while thecontainer is being lowered.

{in object of my invention is to release the container in the, well at the top, but in such manner that the container is not hrolzen when it reaches travel arresting means in the well hole and in lowering of the container to he able to determine when the container has reached the arresting means. The container is then left in such position for a predetermined time and then removed to the surface and utilized to determine the inclination of the well by the angle the suriace etching takes with the glass.

A further object of my invention is dropping the container in the well through a string of drill pipe and having the container come to a stop at the drill bit. The container after re= maining a predetermined time at the bottom is raised to the top by hoisting and uncoupling the string of drill pipes.

A still further object of my invention is dropping a glass container in the well through the slushing fluid or the liquid in the well and prefv erably through the sloshing fluid contained in tamer, showing the tand the drill pipe and the couplings and joints thereof. This allows the holder with the con tainer to strike the hit without breaking the glass container.

A still further object of my invention is the construction of a tree falling holder and means to dampen and arrest the fall or" the container so that a resilient action is obtained thereby pre-: venting breaking of the container hy the jolt oft strimng the travel arresting means.

in this connection a more detailed object of my invention is making the holder with a telescopic plunger-like device having a resistant spring and also a chamber for hydraulic fluid which is expelled when the spring is compressed due to the blow in strimng the-bottom of the drill string. The container itself is suppormd on a resilient mattrem or the like.

. A further detailed feature of my invention is to the holder with a long tubular tail piece which eflectively guides this in falling through the drill string and which may be made hollowand by its displacement give a, desired degree of buoyancy to the holder and the container, thus on the device to fall at such a rate of speed that the blow on the ,hottom will be insuflicient to break the container and yet allow the device to drop sufliciently rapidly so that the hydrofluoric acid has but little opportunity to etch the glass in its descent.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which,

Figure l is a diagraatic vertical section of a well much enlarged in diameter;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the lower end of a drill collar and drill bit, showing my holder mounted therein;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the holder and she 1.: the container;

Fig. l is a section on the line 4-4 of reg. 3 in the direction of the we;

Fig. 5 is a modified vertical section showing another type of mounting for the container;

Fig. d is a vertical section through the con- :u rer of etching and illustratlng the etching and showing the inclination of the well;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section of a modifiw stopping arrangement for the container;

Fig. 8 is a detail vertical section showing the container at the top of the holder.

In Fig. i the hereof the well is indicated by the numeral 11, the well being illustrated as having a well casing 12 and astring of drill pipe 13, the couplings being indicated at 14. At the bot- Him tom of the string there is the usual drill collar 15 and a drill bit 16. This bit is indicated as having a fish tail cutting end 17 and has a socket 18 with slushing ducts 19 leading from the socket to discharge adjacent the bit. Withmy invention I may utilize any standard type of hydraulic drilling equipment.

My holder structure designated generally by the numeral 20 is elongated and has a plunger section 21 with grooves 22 on opposite sides, the plunger having a head 23 at the end which flts and slides in a vertical chamber 24 formed in the bottom portion 25 of the holder. The bottom portion of the holderis provided with a pilot or tapered end 26 and preferably with a squared end 27. A pair of screw threaded pins 28 extend through the upper end of the bottom portion of the holder above the head 23 and fit in the grooves 22. There are a plurality of apertures 29 leading into the bottom of the chamber 24 and a coil spring 30 is also mounted in this chamber bearing against the inside of the point 26 and the lower part of the plunger 21.

The plunger is provided with a container holding section '31 with shoulders 32 immediately therebelow. This section has a deep socket 33 in which is mounted a glass container 34, there being a packing 35 around the container and the container rests on a spring mattress 36 at the bottom. The container may have a cork 'or other plug 37 forming a closure at the top and such container is preferably made cylindrlcal.

A coupling cap 38 is screw threaded on thetubular tail piece 41 is threaded to the top of the coupling cap and this may be made quite thin and it is desirable to have a number of partitions or other transverse strengthening members 42 across this tail piece. These if desired may have apertures 43 therethrough also if desired to close this tailpiece with a plug 44. By having this tailpiece of sufllcient length and cross sectional interior area I may obtain a displacement which this having a greater buoyancy than if the whole structure other than the container is made of solid metal. I

The manner of operating my device is substantially as follows: When a well is being bored by rotary hydraulic equipment and before the drill string is withdrawn I drop my holder having the container mounted therein and the container having a partial fllling of hydrofluoric acid or other etching fluid therein; the slushing fluid is still in the drill string and the device drops to the bottom. The passage of this downward may be readily detected by listening to the holder striking the joints and couplings of the drill string in its drop and the sound made by the striking at the bottom may be readily detected ber becomes filled with hydraulic fluid as there is sufllcient leakage at the head of the plunger to allow the air to escape or this chamber may be filled with water before the device is dropped. This breaks the jolt' on the container and the springs 36 and 39 also lessen the breaking action on the container so that I find that my device may be used on very deep wells without the tom of the well a more or less predetermined time,

giving sufiicient time for the acid to react with or etch the glass or the container and as the holder is in parallelism with the elongated axis of the well hole and the surface of the acid is horizontal and libratory in relation to the container, the angle of this surface with respect to the elongate axis of the holder may be utilized to determine the inclination of the well after the drill string is pulled to the surface. Theelongate axis or any other datum line or plane serves as a comparative means for the purpose of measuring inclination; While the etching action continues in this upward hoisting of the drill string, nevertheless the sin-face level is well illustrated with my procedure and especially so as the device drops freely under the action of gravity.

In order to adjust or extend the tail piece 41 I make this in sections having a screw Joint 45 so that a plurality of sections can be joined together, thus changing the buoyancy of the construction when immersed inthe slushing fluid. 1

tress for the container, this being illustrated as having a rubber mattress 46 below the container and a second rubber mattress 47 ontop of the container. Also, if desired I may use a rubber mattress instead of the spring 30 in the chamber 24.

In some cases I may employ a spring 48 located in'the socket in the drill bit so that the point of'the holder strikes on this spring. This gives an additional resilient buffer to the stopping of the holder and its container.

In Fig. 7 I illustrate a modified construction in which a drill pipe, drill collar or the like49 has a spider or shoulders'SO constructed therein serving as an arrester and functioning to stop the fall of and support the holder and on this arrester may be mounted a bufler spring 51 so that thetool in dropping strikes this bufl'er spring and thus aids in stopping the device. Where I use a buifer spring I find that I may dispense with the telescopic action of. the holder having no resilient resistance'in the holder itself except for the mounting of the container.

In Fig. 6 the line 52 illustrates the etching showing the inclination of the surface formed by the hydrofluoric acid in the glass.

In Fig. 8 I illustrate a holder designated generally by the numeral 53. This has a tubular sec- ,tion 54 with the container mounted therein on springs and there is a plug 55 above the container with a spring between the container and the plug. A hollow tubular section 56 having threaded joints is spaced between the upper section of the holder and the plunger section 57. A point similar to that shown in Fig. 3 is utilized in connection with In Fig. 5 I illustrate a modified type of mat- (iii) the plunger section having the telescopic action with the bufier spring therein.

Various changes may be made in the principles of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof as set forth in the description, drawing and claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for determining the inclination of well holes comprising a free falling elongated holder having a lower end adapted to strike a fall arrester in a well hole, an upper portion of the holder telescoping with the lower portion, a cushioning element to resist said telescoping, a fragile container mounted in the upper portion and having an etching liquid therein, the holder with the container being adapted to drop by gravity in a well hole and to he llited to the top of the well hole.

2. Apparatus 'for detering the inclination of well holes cemprising in combination a free falling elongated holder formed in a plurality of sections telescoping together, the lower section being adapted to strike a fall arrester in a well hole, means to resist telescopic action including a spring, a fragile container in the upper section having an etching liquid therein, a resilient mounting for the container, said holder with the container being adapted to drop by gravity in the well hole and to be elevated therefrom.

CMUDE E. LEA.

Mill 

